Summary
- James Gunn will not be relying on a timeline keeper for his new DCU, ensuring a more straightforward continuity compared to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
- Gunn will have creative control over the DCU, similar to Kevin Feige’s role in the MCU, allowing him to bring in both well-known and obscure characters.
- Gunn aims to avoid complications in the timeline and make his DCU vision a cohesive and focused franchise.
There is no way to deny that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has become such a sprawling entity that fans now need a guide to help navigate their way around the timeline. This has come in the form of a new book from Marvel Studios entitled Marvel Studios “The Marvel Cinematic Universe An Official Timeline”, but according to James Gunn this is something that will not be required for his new DCU.
Gunn has had plenty of experience working with Marvel Studios on their Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, and now he is taking all he knows over to DC Studios in order reboot the DC Universe. When responding to a fan comment on Threads, Gunn made it clear that he will be avoiding one of the biggest gripes around the MCU. Gunn was asked if the DCU would be employing a “timeline keeper” such as the one reportedly in charge of charting the course of the MCU, to which Gunn replied:
“Me and the rest of the team (Chantal and Glanen and Jess etc). If that’s a position at Marvel I do not know who that person is (I’ve never discussed anything with them), but I guess that’s why I think [Guardians of the Galaxy] Vol 3 is now and everyone keeps saying 2030 or something (I ALREADY thought I was pushing the limits of [Star-Lord’s] Grandpa still being alive!).”
So in essence it appears that Gunn will be hoping to avoid having to take on someone to constantly check on the timeline of his DCU, and will be keeping a close check on the linear timeline to ensure things don’t become as complicated to follow as their Marvel counterpart.
James Gunn Will Bring His Vision to the DCU.
One thing that there has been no doubt of is that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has always had a much more definite direction than the DCEU ever did. However, the timeline of the franchise has recently been reshuffled a number of times in order to make its continuity line-up. With many of Marvel’s post-Endgame projects having effectively taken place within a few months of each other in “real-time”, fans have struggled to work out exactly where they all fit.
For James Gunn, it seems that the DCU will be mostly his vision, very much in the same way as Kevin Feige has been the overviewing architect of the MCU. While this can be a good or bad thing, Gunn has a knack of taking a blank canvas and populating it with characters from his various toy boxes. When it comes to the new DC franchise, it appears that Gunn has been given pretty much free reign of the characters available, and while he is bringing new iterations of the likes of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman to life, he is also delving into more obscure characters such as Booster Gold and The Authority, who have previously not had a chance to shine on the big screen.
